Pawar flip-flop continues, skips Third Front rally

New Delhi: Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar did not attend the Third Front rally in Orissa and instead addressed it on phone from Nashik.

Pawar, who is an important partner of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), said that he was not able to reach Bhubaneshwar as his plane developed a technical snag.

"I am in Nashik and the aircraft that was supposed to take me could not reach because of a malfunction. I will definitely go sometime next week. I was not going to Third Front rally but going for BJD (Biju Janata Dal) rally. I am not with the Third Front. There is a difference between Third Front and BJD. We want to continue with UPA," said Pawar from Nashik.

Though Pawar said his plane developed a technical snag stalling his plans, the decision to pull out of the rally at the 11th hour is being seen as a climbdown as the Congress on Thursday had raised strong objections on Pawar's decision to address the rally in Bhubaneshwar.

The NCP chief was scheduled to share the dais with BJD chief and Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and the Left leaders in Bhubaneshwar on Friday.

The NCP along with the Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha had supported the BJD government during the trust vote in state Assembly on March 11.

Pawar has been insisting that he's very much in the race for the next prime minister of India.

However, did give the due credit to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh saying it was a privilege to work with him.

"Manmohan Singh is a very nice person. He has truly worked for the development of the country. I was lucky that I was a part of his Cabinet," said Pawar.

Left leaders like Prakash Karat, AB Bardhan and Patnaik are attending the Third Front rally.

But an important Third Front constituent and Janata Dal (Secular) President HD Deve Gowda has rebuked Pawar's move to get close to the Third Front.

The former prime minister has said that Third Front will not have any discussion with Pawar as long as he is with the UPA.